A female election agent and a gun-toting soldier try to collect votes among the local islanders with mixed success.
Director:
Babak Payami
From metacritic.com
Cate Blanchett shares her list of films to inspire hope in support of the UN Refugee Agency to assist those without a place to call home amidst our global health crisis.
User Lists
Related lists from IMDb users
Share this Rating
Title: Secret Ballot (2001)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
10 wins & 5 nominations.
See more awards »
Edit
Cast
| Cast overview: | |||
| Nassim Abdi | ... | Girl | |
| Cyrus Abidi | ... | Soldier | |
 |
Youssef Habashi | ||
|
|
Farrokh Shoja | ||
|
|
Gholbahar Janghali | ||
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
See All (125) »
Storyline
A soldier stationed on a deserted beach wakes up and discovers that it's not going to be an ordinary day: there are the elections, but nobody seems to know anything about them. Just as an electoral urn is being parachuted from the sky, a young woman disembarks on the beach. To the soldier's bafflement, it turns out that she is in charge of the mobile electoral seat and voting on the islands; therefore the soldier is obliged to obey her orders and escort her with his rifle and army jeep across the desert, where the woman obstinately intends to collect the votes. During the day, stressed by a series of absurd events, the two learn to get to know each other. At sunset, when the young woman leaves, the man realizes that the secret vote contained much more than he had ever imagined. Written by Sujit R. Varma
Plot Keywords:
looking at oneself in a mirror | vote | election | beach | election agent |Taglines:
In Iran, This Election Day was just the beginning... See more »Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents »
Edit
Did You Know?
Trivia
Ra'ye makhfi was filmed entirely in Kish Island, a resort island in the Persian Gulf although it is not mentioned in the movie. See more »Frequently Asked Questions
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
Edit
Edit
See more on IMDbPro »
See full technical specs »
Details
Language:
PersianRelease Date:
26 October 2001 (Italy) See more »Also Known As:
Bulletin secret See more »Filming Locations:
Kish Island, IranEdit
Box Office
Opening Weekend USA:
$14,609, 11 August 2002Gross USA:
$114,909Cumulative Worldwide Gross:
$122,875Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Sound Mix:
Dolby DigitalColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1Contribute to This Page
Looking for some great streaming picks? Check out some of the IMDb editors' favorites movies and shows to round out your Watchlist.
"Secret Ballot (Raye makhfi)" should be required viewing in every class in the country that deals with civics, government, and social studies (it wouldn't hurt the kids to read the subtitles). And it wouldn't hurt for policy makers who mouth off about allies while ignoring lack of democracy to see this too.
The story is simple -- an idealistic government agent is sent to get as many votes as possible by 5 pm on a desert island (I didn't even know Iran has such islands, let alone that they are populated.) The agent is accompanied by a resentful, cynical soldier.
On this unique road trip of a scavenger hunt they each are changed in subtle ways by each other and the wide variety of characters they meet up with who deal with their first exposure to them, to voting and to a secret ballot in a variety of complex ways that are beyond American experiences.
The movie vividly demonstrates the physical,logistical, psychological, political and social challenges of bringing some semblance of democracy to other cultures, let alone to the Mideast. While the amateur actors keep this from having an emotional Hollywood satisfaction so it feels more like a docudrama/comedy, their reality (including the obvious censorship restrictions) brings it all home anyway.
(originally written 9/2/2002)